265 related texts · Page 3 of 6
The angel turned back to Abraham. "Know from this moment that the Eternal One has chosen you. Be of good courage and use this authority, as far as I bid you, against him who slande...
"Now look again in the picture," God said. "See who it is that seduced Eve and what is the fruit of the tree. You will know what shall be and how it shall be for your seed among th...
God answered Abraham's question about evil with a revelation about the nations. He was angered at them on account of Abraham's descendants, the people who would be separated after ...
We often hear about angels as these purely good, ethereal beings. But what happens when angels, shall we say, misbehave? The story of Azazel and Shemhazai is one of those tales. It...
We pick up with Shemhazai and Azazel. Now, these weren’t just any angels. They were part of a group who, according to some traditions, were sent to Earth to observe humanity. But, ...
It wasn't just the loss of one loved one; it was a cascade of sorrow that threatened to overwhelm him completely. The news of his son Joseph's supposed death – a deception, as we k...
The Israelites knew that feeling all too well. Remember the Golden Calf? A colossal screw-up. A moment of collective insanity that threatened to shatter everything. But what happen...
Sometimes, the answer was surprisingly simple: drawing lots. And that's precisely how a potential crisis was averted after the Exodus, involving the firstborn sons of Israel. : aft...
It wasn't always straightforward, and the process of selection was often just as important as the people chosen. In the vast tapestry of Jewish tradition, choosing leaders was a sa...
He went straight to the top, appealing to God Himself. Why? What went wrong? But God wouldn't answer. Why the divine silence? It wasn't just some cosmic mood swing. According to th...
Yikes. Talk about a misinterpretation. The "trumpets," of course, are the shofar, the ram's horn, whose blasts are meant to awaken our souls, to call us to repentance and introspec...
The story of Esther begins with a drunken king and a queen who said no. King Artaxerxes of Persia hosted a lavish feast—180 days of celebration for his court, then seven more days ...
Antipater wanted the throne so badly he was willing to destroy every member of his own family to get it. And for a while, it worked. According to Josephus in Antiquities XVI, Antip...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a companion volume to the Zohar that delves into the deeper meanings of the Torah, offers us a fascinating glimpse into this cosmic struggle....
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, that mystical exploration of the Zohar itself, gives us a glimpse into why. It tells us that the prayer of Shabbat, called qabalah – acceptan...
It's more complex than you might think, and sometimes, the line between them gets surprisingly blurry. Take Azazel, for example. We find this fascinating figure mentioned in Tikkun...
The mystical text, Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, in section 108, uses just that image to explore themes of repentance, judgment, and the wandering of the Shekhinah (the Divine...
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, culminates in a moment like that. It's called Neilah – the Closing Prayer. But what exactly is closing? What’s at stake? Well, according to tradit...
But there’s so much more to it than just a spiritual "reset" button. on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, tradition tells us that God sits in judgment of everyone. Then, on Yom K...
According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations, Moses spent forty days atop Mount Sinai. Imagine him there, not just receiving the Tor...
Jewish tradition wrestles with these questions constantly, and one particularly fascinating perspective comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a collection of stories and interpretatio...
Our ancestors felt that too, especially when seeking connection with the Divine. The scene is set in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (chapter 46), a fascinating text that expands on biblica...
Jewish tradition offers some pretty fascinating, and sometimes mind-bending, perspectives on this. to one found in Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah, a text filled with ethical and theolo...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a vast collection of rabbinic commentary on the Hebrew Bible, compiled sometime in the 13th century, hints at just such a thing. Specifically, the commentary on...
Let’s take a look at one fascinating example from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. The passage deals with the horrif...
Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is unlike any other day in the calendar — and according to Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic work traditi...
Rabbi Yehuda said, "Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) before the Holy One, Blessed be He: One of wholly righteous people; and they are immediately writt...
The verse says: "Twelve golden ladles, full of incense, ten each ladle, in the sacred shekel; all the gold of the ladles was one hundred and twenty." Okay, twelve golden ladles. Go...
The text opens with a quote from Deuteronomy, saying God is "near it." But who is "it"? The verse itself speaks of a nation that has God near to it. Devarim Rabbah, in its characte...
There was an incident involving Miriam bat Baitus, whom Yehoshua ben Gamla betrothed [to him], and the king appointed him to be the High Priest.173He was appointed to this position...
It's more than just a pretty tent, you know. It's a story of atonement, of divine presence, and of a relationship between God and the Jewish people that’s been unfolding for millen...
Our tale comes from Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, a treasure trove of stories expanding on what we find in the Bible. It tells us about the offerings brought by the princes of th...
Moses, desperate, remembers a secret he learned during his time on Mount Sinai, when he ascended to receive the Torah. It's a pretty wild story, actually. Each angel he encountered...
We all know King Solomon. The wisest of men, builder of the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem. But this story isn't just about Solomon's glory; it’s about how his father, David, play...
Jehoiada was quite the figure – the son of Benaiah, who served as commander-in-chief of the army under Solomon. Talk about living history! King Joash, guided by Jehoiada, diligentl...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers a fascinating perspective. It points to the tribe of Levi, specifically those who resisted ...
The story, as told in Midrash Tehillim, revolves around the moment Shlomo wanted to bring the Aron Kodesh, the Ark of the Covenant, into the Kodesh Hakodashim, the Holy of Holies. ...
, guided by the ancient text of Sifrei Bamidbar. The text opens by highlighting a special covenant forged between God and Aaron, the High Priest, regarding the kodesh hakodashim, t...
We can see this theme beautifully illustrated in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) 4, which draws a powerful lesson from the seemingly straightforward verse, “The charge of Elazar, ...
We find in Bamidbar Rabbah 14 a fascinating exploration of the verse, "Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in...
We get a glimpse into that, and a whole lot more about marriage, divorce, and forbidden relationships in this fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 18. It all starts with the fa...
It wasn't just a tent; it was a portable sanctuary, a reflection of the Divine Presence, and the artisans poured their hearts and souls into every thread. Shemot Rabbah, a collecti...
The ancient Rabbis did. They poured over the verses, searching for clues. And in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on the Song of Songs, we find some fascinating answer...
The ancient rabbis certainly did! They saw profound symbolism woven into every thread, especially when it came to the garments of the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest. : the High Pries...
This one’s half fire, half ice. Quite the contrast. According to 3 Enoch 32:1, when God opens this extraordinary book, something incredible happens. Avenging angels are unleashed. ...
Some believe that certain figures, especially the patriarch Abraham, never truly died. The idea of Abraham continuing to wander the world, making his presence known, is surprisingl...
Sometimes, the most incredible stories come from those moments. Like this one from Hebron, about how the patriarch Abraham himself stepped in to aid his descendants. Now, Hebron – ...
The story of the second set of tablets, the Luchot, is a powerful reminder of divine patience and the enduring bond between God and the Jewish people. It all starts with the afterm...
